Not applicable.
This invention relates to a system and method of binding a perfect bound soft cover book. Typically, such soft cover books comprise a plurality of pages (referred to as a book block) having one edge which is referred to as the spine. The cover is of a suitable cover stock thicker than the pages comprising the book block. The cover has a front cover that overlies the front of the book block, a back cover that overlies the back of the book block, and a center portion spanning across the spine of the book block. A suitable adhesive is applied between the spine of the book block and the inside face of the center portion of the cover. The edges of the pages comprising the book block forming the spine are imbedded in the adhesive which, upon curing, securely adheres the cover to the book block and secures the pages of the book block to one another and to the center portion of the cover thus permitting the book to be opened to any page without the pages coming loose.
In high volume production processes for manufacturing such perfect bound books, specially developed machines jog the pages of the book block so as to insure that the edges of the pages are properly aligned with one another. The adhesive (a suitable hot melt adhesive) is applied to the spine of the book block. The cover (which is usually pre-printed) is wrapped around the front, the spine and the back of the book block and the cover is firmly clamped to the book block proximate the spine such that the center portion of the cover is firmly pressed against the adhesive between the spine of the book block and the inner face of the center portion thereby to properly adhere the cover to the book block and to adhere the pages to one another and to the center portion of the cover. Typically, such perfect bound books are printed on page that is somewhat larger than the desired size of the finished and bound book to be produced. These books, after they are bound, are trimmed along three sides to the desired final dimensions in a separate trimming machine. Heretofore, such operations were carried out in separate machines that required considerable setup to bind books of different sizes and thus were best suited for production runs of many books. In addition, these prior binder/trimmer machines were very expensive.
In recent years, book printing has undergone changes as computer technology and laser printers have advanced. This new technology now allows for on demand printed books. These on demand printed books may come in a variety of formats and thicknesses. This has created a need from an economical binding apparatus and system which is sufficiently flexible to allow on demand printed books of varying size and thickness to be bound and trimmed, even if books of different formats (size) and thickness must be bound one at a time (i.e., with production binding runs consisting of a single book copy), and yet where such binding and trimming operations are fully automated such that a store clerk or attendant need merely feed the printed pages constituting the book block and the printed cover of the book to be bound into the apparatus and a bound, trimmed book is produced in a short time. In addition, there has been a need for short runs of perfect bound books where the size or format of the book can be readily changed from run to run without the need of undue experimentation or adjustment of the apparatus to produce such different size books.
Among the several objects and features of the present invention may be noted the provision of such a binding apparatus which has sufficient speed to bind and trim one copy of a book using the perfect binding method while another copy of the book (or a copy of another book) is being on demand printed;
The provision of such binding apparatus which, once the book block has been transferred to the binding apparatus, jogs the pages of the book block and mills the edges of the book block which form the spine of the books so as to better accept the adhesive;
The provision of such binding apparatus which applies a suitable adhesive so as to be disposed between the spine of the book block and the inner face of the center portion of the cover;
The provision of such a binding apparatus which clamps the cover to the margins of the front and back of the book block proximate the spine with the center portion of the cover substantially centered with respect to the spine thereby to allow the adhesive to properly adhere the cover to the spine and to adhere the pages in the book block to one another and to the center portion of the cover;
The provision of such binding apparatus which has a trimmer adapted to receive the oversized bound book block and cover from the clamping section so as to trim a first edge thereof, to turn the book 90xc2x0 to trim a second edge, to turn the book another 90xc2x0 to trim a third edge, and then to eject such bound and trimmed book;
The provision of such a binding and trimming apparatus which may be automatically set up to bind and trim books of different thicknesses and sizes such that a single copy of such different sized books may be reliably bound and trimmed to specified dimensions without manual set up and without binding attempts of sample book blocks and covers;
The provision of such a binding and trig apparatus having a binding/trimming rate of about one minute/book;
The provision of such a binding and trimming apparatus and method which accommodates books within a wide range of sizes (e.g., between 6 inchesxe2x88x929 inches and 8xc2xd inches and 11 inches) and within a wide range of thicknesses (e.g., ranging from between xc2xc inches and about 1xc2xd inches);
The provision of such a binding and trimming apparatus which, upon receiving data corresponding to the size and thickness (number of pages) of the book to be bound automatically adjusts the clamping section to accommodate such book with the cover properly centered with respect to the spine of the book block and properly adjusts the trimmer so as to trim the excess width and height of the book block and cover thereby to produce a bound book corresponding to the desired size for the finished book;
The provision of such a binding and trimming apparatus in which various sizes and formats of books may be accommodated and where various adjustments within the apparatus for the different operations (e.g., positioning of the spine of the book block with respect to the center of the cover and trimming of the edges or margins of the bound book) are automatically adjusted upon inputting such information into the control system, either manually or where such information is associated with data automatically provided to the system; and
The provision of such a binding and trimming apparatus which does not require special training for use, which is of economical construction, which has a relatively fast production speed, and which is reliable in operation.
Other objects with be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.
Briefly stated, the binding and trimming apparatus of this invention comprises a carriage movable along a work path, the carriage receiving a plurality of substantially rectangular pages constituting a rectangular book block, with the pages of the book block oriented such that minor dimension of the book block extends vertically and such that one major edge of the book block is the lowermost horizontal edge of the book block with this lowermost edge being referred to as the spine of the book block. The work path has a jogging station, a milling station, an adhesive application station, a clamping station and a trimming station located therealong. The carriage loosely holding the loose pages of the book block such that a jogging mechanism may mechanically vibrate the pages so as allow the pages to move with respect to one another such that the lowermost edge of each page is positioned relative to one another such that the edges of the pages constituting the spine of the book block are substantially in the same horizontal plane and such that minor edges of the pages are substantially in the same vertical planes. The carriage securely grips the jogged pages and transports the book block from the jogging station to the milling station where a suitable knife mills the lowermost margin of the book block so as to insure a substantially coplanar spine. The carriage then transports the book block to the adhesive application station where a suitable adhesive is applied. At the binding station, a cover for the book to be bound is positioned such that the center portion of the cover is in register with and is substantially centered with respect to the spine of the book block with the adhesive disposed between the spine and the inner face of the cover. The binding station includes a clamp which engages the cover proximate the spine and forcefully compresses the cover onto the front and back faces of the book block proximate the spine thereby to adhere the center portion of the cover to the spine of the book with the adhesive bonding the cover to the spine of the book and with the adhesive bonding the pages of the book block to one another proximate the spine and to the center portion of the cover. The carriage further carries the bound book to the trimming station. The trimming station has a trimming blade capable of trimming the cover along a first edge. The trimming station has a book positioner which positions a first edge of the book to be trimmed in a desired position with respect to the trimming blade such that when the trimming blade is actuated, a predetermined amount of the cover and the book block along this first edge is trimmed from the book. The trimming station further has a book turning mechanism that turns the book about 90xc2x0 such that a second edge of the book to be trimmed faces the trimming blade. The book positioner moves the book relative to the trimming blade so that upon actuation of the trimming blade, a predetermined amount of the cover and the book block along this second edge is trimmed from the book. The book turning mechanism then turns the book about 90xc2x0 such that a third edge of the book to be trimmed faces the trimming blade. The book positioner moves the book relative to the trimming blade so that upon actuation of the trimming blade, a predetermined amount of the cover and the book block along this third edge is trimmed from the book thereby to produce a perfect bound book trimmed along three edges to a predetermined size.